Alta Audio Rhea

Same in the US, even though the speaker is manufactured here. I was searching for these last year, for an audition. But US is pretty huge and if you are remotely located, there is not much chance. I see lots of UK ads on the net and in books where dealers have great financing options, exchanges, etc. Good for you guys. Even Canada has a better hi-fi scene than here.

I'm a dealer for Alta......do you have any specific questions about the Rhea's?

As you can likely tell from the show reports they have been at, the Rheas are really quite good. 

Purchased a pair of these recently and want to provide some feedback for others who are considering these speakers. This is an initial review after 1 day. I will report back at a later date to provide additional info after getting used to these speakers.

= Setup =
NAD M51 DAC
Nuforce STA200 amplifier
Rel T7 subwoofer

Prior to this I had been using PMC OB1 speakers. First off, the Rhea's have a tremendous amount of bass. Reviews on the net describe the bass as 'exceptional' and this is not an exaggeration. They need at least 20 inches from the rear wall in my small room to tame the midbass. This was a huge change from the OB1, which I had found lacking in bass. The Rhea soundstage is set back farther behind the speakers, whereas the OB1 soundstage tends to be focused at the plane of the front  speaker baffles. At this point, the T7 is a paper weight with these speakers because the Rhea's put out so much bass. If you're pairing a sub with these, make sure it can reach below 30 Hz otherwise you simply will not need it.

There is no harshness whatsoever. None. Period. Coming from the OB1 this is a massive change. At first I thought the sound was dull and it took a while to adjust to the sound signature of the Rhea's. Now I realize the OB1 were simply bright, as PMC are known to be tipped up beginning around 5k. This is great if you're engineering or mixing, but I just want to listen to music and not have my ears seared off by incisive treble frequencies.

The soundstage is not nearly as tall as the OB1, but the horizontal dispersion of the Rhea's ribbon tweeters far outpaces the OB1. The sweetspot for listening is massive compared to the narrow range of the OB1. This can be attributed to the ribbon tweeter.

Overall I'm very happy with the Rhea's at this point and will report back again in the near future.

Update to my initial review after listening to the speakers for over a week.

Since my initial review, the tubes in my VTA SP14 have been swapped from RCA 6SN7 to Sylvania 6SN7WGTA. The Sylvania tubes have transformed the sound again. The RCA tubes were rolled off on the high end too much for my liking. The Sylvania's have restored the high end extension and brought the soundstage closer to the front.

2-way speakers cannot match the midrange presence that the 3-way PMC OB1 with dome midranges offer. For those who have heard PMC's offerings with dome midranges, surely you will be able to relate to that statement.

For what I paid for the Rhea's, I'm completely satisfied. They have great bass and extend low enough in the frequency range to provide a great sense of presence. The ribbon tweeters have eliminated all harshness from the system and I can listen for hours without fatigue. The Rel T7 will probably be placed for sale in the near future as I no longer have a need for it with the Rhea's.

The other speakers I was considering were Revel F208 and Focal 1028be. Both would have cost around $3600/pr from the local dealer. For that price I was able to purchase the Rhea's, VTA SP14 preamp, Sylvania 6SN7WGTA tubes, and DIY Furutech power cords. The markup on offerings with beryllium is beyond what I'm willing to pay at this point.

To provide context, these are other speakers I've owned:

Paradigm Monitor 7 v1 - my first hifi speakers
NHT 2.5i - Still under the radar after all these years. Great speakers.
PMC TB2i - Didn't have them long enough to form an opinion.
Paradigm Studio 40v2 - Typical Paradigm hifi sound. Good value speakers.
Paradigm Active 40v2 - Legendary. I should have never sold these.
PMC OB1 - Accurate studio monitor type sound. PMC shouldn't have gone cheap on the woofers though. The woofer magnet is pathetic compared to the PB1i.

@jeenam

Nice write-up. I have owned the Rhea’s for about 6 months and really like them a lot. Check out my Virtual System for more info if you wish.

I, too, have had a pair of Rhea's in my system for the last six months and have been very happy with them.  They replaced KEF LS-50's and were a big step up (for my taste and circumstances).  My basement listening room has stone walls and a concrete floor, and I kept adding more and more absorption to tame the KEF's perceived brightness or edginess.  With the Rhea's this is not a problem, and I have removed some of the absorbing panels (though not the base traps in the front corners).  I still get excellent imaging and detail, but no harshness or edginess whatsoever.  I do have the Rhea's well out in the room, which may explain the fact that I have not found their bass output to be excessive as some have reported.  I even turned my subwoofer back on after a few weeks, just to get those last few Hz. 

Room is 12' X 23' X 7'.  Other components are Auralic Aries streamer to PS Audio Directstream DAC to BHK preamp to Stellar M700's.

Anyone here with Alta Audio speakers who lives near Southern California? I live in San Diego, looking to audition Alta Alecs, Alyssas or Rheas to replace my Goldenear Triton Ones but the closest Alta dealer is in Tucson, AZ.